AR01 405756 


HON.  HOUACE  GKEELEY. 


TEE  IE 


.^WlffEL 


ITS 


'  Eposes  and 


1  8  7  O  . 


Sx  IGthrtfl 


SEYMOUR    DURST 


"t '  'Tort  nuuw    iAr7tAe.rda.Tn,  oj>  Je  Mankatatis 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'thing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


\\  I  RY  ARCHITECTURE!    WD  FlNl   ARTS  LIBRARY 

Gift  of  Si  ymoi  r  B.  Dursi  oi  dYork  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/sketchesofpastinOOindu 


K  I,  T  G 


i  a,  ^ 


OF   PAST 


WITH   REFERENCE   TO  THE 


PERPETUAL  EXHIBITION, 


TO   BE   HELD    BY   THE 


,0mpEtt; 


NEW  YORK: 

J.  0.  Seymour,  Kennard  &  Hay,  Printers,  89  Liberty  Street. 


1870 


S54' 


tndusttfat  IxMfeltterw. 


Competitive  exhibitions  are  as  old  as  the  world.  The 
savage  delights  in  exhibiting  his  prowess  over  his  fellows  in 
the  hunt  or  on  the  war  path,  and  his  string  of  human  scalps 
are,  to  him,  so  many  medals  of  honor  entitling  him  to  su- 
perior distinction  in  the  lodge  or  the  tribe.  In  the  barbarous 
ages,  kings  and  rulers  strove  to  outwit  their  rivals  in  strat- 
egy,  and  to  outshine  them  in  the  rude  splendor  of  their 
imperial  dwellings  and  retinues.  The  tournaments  of  the 
days  of  chivalry  were  competitions  for  the  rewards  awaiting 
the  victorious  knights.  The  fierce  wars  of  modern  times 
have  been  so  many  exhibitions  of  valor,  strength  and  skill, 
of  which  the  prizes  were  personal,  political  or  territorial 
supremacy. 

"  Peace  hath  her  victories,  no  less  renowned  than  war," 

and  they  have  been  achieved  in  friendly  rivalry  of  agricul- 
ture, arts  and  science.  The  importance  of  an  improved 
development  of  human  industry  and  invention  has  led  to 
village  fairs,  to  agricultural  shows,  to  machinery  trials,  and, 
upon  a  grander  scale,  to  those  national  and  international  ex- 
hibitions which  have  attracted  the  attention  of  the  civilized 
world.  Looking  only  to  the  consideration  of  those  which 
have  aspired  to  belong  to  the  latter  class,  we  find  that  as 
early  as  1756,  the  British  Society  of  Arts  offered  prizes  for 
improvements  in  tapestry,  in  carpets,  porcelain,  agriculture 
and  other  mechanical  inventions.  The  number  of  these  in- 
creasing, the  Society,  in  1761,  found  it  necessary  to  employ 


4  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

a  gentleman  to  devote  his  time  to  explaining  to  visitors  and 
inventors  the  nature  and  utility  of  the  articles  entered  for 
competition.  From  that  time  to  the  present  there  have  been 
numerous  industrial  exhibitions,  the  more  prominent  of 
which  are  noted  below. 


Early  European   Exhibitions. 

We  have  mentioned  the  pioneer  of  English  exhibitions  of 
industry  and  invention.  The  British  Society  of  Arts  has 
steadily  fostered  mechanical  and  scientific  improvements. 
Many  minor  exhibitions  were  held  subsequently  to  those  of 
1756 — 61,  but  the  first  movement  toward  a  national  enter- 
prise appears  to  have  been  in  182S,  when  King  George  IV. 
was  largely  instrumental  in  opening  an  exhibition,  which  it 
was  proposed  to  continue  annually,  under  the  ponderous 
title  of  "A  National  Repository  for  the  Exhibition  of  Speci- 
mens of  New  and  Improved  Productions  of  the  Artisans  and 
Manufacturers  of  the  United  Kingdom,  at  Kings  Mews, 
Charing  Cross."  The  plan  was  not  well  supported  by  the 
public,  its  title  being  not  the  least  ridiculed  point  about  it, 
Imt  through  the  strenuous  efforts  of  the  king  and  a  few 
co-laborers,  it  was  kept  up  for  four  years,  after  which  it  was 
heard  of  no  more. 

In  1850  an  exhibition  was  held  in  Dublin,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Royal  Society  of  that  city  (it  being  the  first 
of  the  Royal  Society's  fairs,  at  which  other  than  Irish  pro- 
ductions were  admitted),  and  several  similar  ones  were  held 
in  Manchester,  Leeds,  and  other  cities. 

In  1853  a  more  extensive  exhibition  was  held  in  Dublin, 
being  international  in  its  character.  Ten  thousand  specta- 
tors were  present  at  the  opening,  on  May  12th.  The 
number  of  season  tickets  sold  was  366,745,  and  of  daily 
visitors  63-1,523,  the  receipts  being  £47,363.  The  building, 
a  series  of  parallel  halls,  cost  £S0,000.     The  lowest  rate  of 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  0 

admission  was  sixpence,  and  the  success  of  the  project  was 
entirely  satisfactory. 

hi  1S52,  an  exhibition  was  held  in  Cork,  at  which  the 
number  of  daily  visitors  was  74,095,  and  the  receipts 
£4,419. 

Meantime,  many  exhibitions,  more  or  less  general  in  their 
character,  had  been  held  upon  the  European  Continent. 
The  pioneer  of  these  was  conceived  and  carried  out  in  1797 
-8,  in  France,  by  Marquis  d'Avize,  who  had  had  a  super- 
vision of  several  branches  of  national  manufactures.  The 
return  of  Napoleon  from  the  Italian  wars  was  made  the 
occasion  for  the  first  official  Exposition  in  the  "  Temple  of 
Industry,"  in  the  Champs  de  Mars.  In  1801  the  second 
Official  Exposition  was  held  while  Napoleon  was  First 
Consul ;  on  this  occasion  Jacquard  was  awarded  a  bronze 
medal  for  the  looms  which  have  since  made  his  name  a 
household  word  in  manufactures.  The  third  Exposition 
was  held  in  1S02,  the  fourth  in  1S06,  the  fifth  in  1819 
(when  seventeen  Crosses  of  the  Legion  of  Honor  were 
awarded,  together  with  360  medals),  the  sixth  in  1823 
(open  for  fifty  days,  and  1,091  prizes  were  awarded),  the 
seventh  in  1827,  in  the  interior  of  the  great  Court  of  the 
Louvre,  the  eighth  in  1834,  with  2,447  exhibitors,  the  ninth 
in  1839,  in  the  Champs  Elysees,  with  4,381  exhibitors,  the 
tenth  in  1844,  when  3,690  manufacturers  competed,  the 
eleventh  in  1849,  the  twelfth  in  1855,  and  the  thirteenth  in 
1857.  Of  the  last,  we  shall  speak  more  in  detail  elsewhere. 
That  of  1849  was  upon  a  larger  scale  than  its  predecessors, 
and  was  the  first  at  which  live  stock  and  agricultural  im- 
plements were  allowed  to  compete  for  prizes.  The  building 
was  675  feet  long  by  328  wide,  besides  a  vast  shed  for 
agricultural  and  horticultural  productions.  The  cost  of  the 
building  was  about  $90,000,  this  being  paid  simply  for  the 
use  of  the  material,  all  of  which  reverted  to  the  contractor, 
at  the  end  of  the  exhibition.     The  public  were  admitted 


b  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

gratuitously  on  Mondays,  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  from 
11  o'clock,  A.  M.,  to  5  P.  M.  On  Thursdays,  from  9  to  5, 
there  was  admission  for  all  who  were  willing  to  pay  one 
franc,  which  went  to  the  poor  of  Paris.  There  was  much 
criticism  upon  the  plan  of  the  building,  it  being  so  miscon- 
structed  that  not  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  interior  could 
be  seen  from  any  one  point,  and  Sir  Digby  Wyatt,  in  a 
report  to  the  British  Society  of  Art,  says  that  "  a  system  of 
sham  seemed  to  preside  over  all  construction  and  ornament," 
cornices  being  of  plaster  made  to  represent  carving,  fir 
beams  being  covered  with  paper  to  make  them  look  like 
oak,  etc. 

At  the  Exposition  of  1855,  there  were  20,859  exhibitors. 
This  was  held  in  the  Palace  de  Industrie,  and  was  open  to 
all  nations.  The  Exposition  was  inaugurated  May  15th, 
and  was  open  198  days,  the  average  number  of  daily  visitors 
being  22,000.  At  the  close  of  the  Exposition,  the  building 
was  purchased  by  the  Government,  and  is  now  used  for 
agricultural  shows,  &c. 

To  King  Ludwig,  of  Bavaria,  is  due  the  honor  of  first 
establishing  &  permanent  national  exhibition.  In  1845,  this 
was  opened  in  a  handsomely  constructed  and  decorated 
edifice,  about  1,000  exhibitors  competing  in  that  year. 

An  exhibition  was  held  in  Brussels  in  1847.  None  of 
the  public  halls  being  large  enough  for  the  purpose,  the 
Nouvel  Entrepot,  a  commercial  edifice,  was  employed. 
The  display  of  the  special  products  of  Belgium  was  very 
fine  ;  Brussels  lace,  valued  at  2,500  francs  per  pound,  and 
handkerchiefs  worth  £200  each,  being  examples.  National 
Fairs  were  held  in  Ghent  in  1820,  in  Tournai  in  1824,  in 
Haarlem  in  1825,  and  in  Brussels  in  1830. 

In  1854,  an  exhibition  for  products  of  Germany  alone  was 
held  in  Munich,  while  similar  ones  had  previously  been  held 
in  Leipsic,  Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  and  Frankfort  on  the 
Maine. 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  7 

ft 

National  Fairs  were  held  in  Spain  in  1827,  1828,  1831, 
18-11  and  1815,  each  of  which  had  an  average  of  about  300 
exhibitors. 

The  World's  Fair  of  1851. 

All  of  these  exhibitions  sink  into  insignificance  when 
compared  with  the  grand  International  Exhibition  of  the 
Industry  of  all  Nations,  held  in  London  in  1851.  This 
mammoth  enterprise,  unprecedented  in  its  extent  and  its 
success,  deserves  somewhat  detailed  notice. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  British  Society  of  Arts,  held  June 
15,  1819,  Prince  Albert  suggested  the  idea  of  a  universal 
exhibition,  to  which  competitors  from  all  nations  should  be 
admitted.  The  Society  heartily  concurred  in  the  proposal, 
and  at  once  took  measures  for  carrying  it  into  effect.  Per- 
sonal communications  were  addressed  to  the  heads  of  leading 
industrial  establishments,  asking  their  co-operation.  The 
Society  appropriated  £20,000  to  be  expended  in  prizes  and 
medals,  and  voluntary  subscriptions  were  called  for  to  defray 
necessary  expenses.  The  firm  of  James  &  George  Munday 
agreed  to  erect  the  necessary  buildings,  advance  what 
funds  were  needed,  and  be  repaid  by  a  proportion  of  the 
profits,  to  be  decided  by  arbitration  at  the  close  of  the 
exhibition.  A  Poyal  Commission  having  been  appointed  to 
have  general  management  of  the  enterprise,  the  Commis- 
sioners decided  to  decline  the  offer  of  the  Messrs.  Munday, 
and  threw  the  whole  burden  of  the  expense  and  risk 
upon  voluntary  subscriptions.  Many  leading  men  and 
houses  subscribed  liberally,  Sir  Morton  Peto  being  one  of 
the  leading  subscribers.  The  total  amount  of  subscriptions 
was  £79,224  13s.  6d.,  of  which  £67,896  12s.  9d.  were  actu- 
ally paid  in.  The  Commissioners  soon  found  that  it  would 
be  desirable  to  obtain  an  Act  of  Incorporation,  which  Par- 
liament granted,  and  the  Bank  of  England  then  advanced 


O  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

to  the  Company  £32,500,  which  was  subsequently  repaid 
out  of  the  receipts  of  the  first  three  weeks. 

In  preparing  for  the  transaction  of  business,  the  Commis- 
sioners appointed  sub-committees,  including  men  of  emi- 
nence in  the  several  departments.  The  contract  for  the 
building  was  awarded  to  Sir  James  Paxton,  at  an  estimated 
cost  of  £79,800,  to  which  £35,000  were  subsequently  added 
in  payment  for  changes  and  for  the  increased  expense  in- 
curred by  reason  of  the  haste  with  which  the  building  was 
constructed.      The  first  column  was  fixed  September  26, 

1850,  and  the  whole  was  complete   for   opening,  May  1,, 

1851.  The  area  of  the  original  building  was  800,000  feet,  to 
which  about  200,000  feet  were  added  by  enlargements. 
More  than  2,000  mechanics  were  employed  in  the  work. 
The  building  was  1,848  feet  by  408  feet,  with  a  projection 
936  feet  by  48  feet,  making  the  total  area  roofed  over  about 
19  acres.  Seven  hundred  tons  of  wrought  iron,  3,800  tons 
of  cast  iron,  and  600,000  feet  of  timber  were  used  in  the 
work. 

The  receipt  of  goods  began  February  12,  1851.  At  the 
opening  ceremonies,  May  1,  25,000  spectators  were  present. 
The  Exhibition  continued  141  days,  finally  closing  October 
15th.  The  total  number  of  visits  were  6,039,135,  the 
average  daily  attendance  being  42,831.  f  On  three  days 
of  the  closing  week  the  number  of  visitors  was  107,81 5r 
109,760  and  109,915,  respectively,  93,224  having  been  in 
the  building  at  once  on  October  7th.  The  total  receipts 
were  £506,100  6s.  lid.,  and  the  net  profits,  after  all  ac- 
counts were  closed,  were  about  £176,000,  or  nearly  a 
million  dollars,  which  were  devoted  to  the  founding  of  an 
Industrial  College.  Twenty-five  thousand  six  hundred  and 
five  season  tickets  were  sold.  No  rent  was  charged  for 
exhibiting  goods,  and  the  valuation  of  property  exhibited 
was  about  £2,000,000.  The  population  of  London  was, 
at  that  time,  about  2,300,000. 


»  industrial  exhibitions.  v 

The  New  York  Crystal  Palace. 

The  splendid  success  of  the  London  Exhibition  stimulated 
efforts  toward  several  similar  ones  in  other  countries.  There 
was  a  prevalent  feeling  that  in  the  Exhibition  of  1851  the 
United  States  had  not  done  justice  to  herself — that  the  im- 
mense resources  of  this  country  should  have  some  more 
satisfactory  exposition,  which  could  best  be  attained  by  an 
exhibition  in  our  leading  city  ;  and,  moreover,  as  this  country 
was  an  enormous  and  increasing  purchaser  of  the  choicest 
fabrics  of  the  old  world,  that  an  opportunity  to  place  their 
goods  before  vastly  more  Americans  than  could  attend  the 
London  World's  Fair  would  be  gladly  made  use  of  by  the 
manufacturers  and  inventors  of  foreign  nations.  An  effort 
was  accordingly  made,  early  in  1852,  to  organize  an  interna- 
tional exhibition,  to  be  held  in  New  York  in  the  following 
year. 

The  municipal  authorities  of  New  York  granted  a  five 
years'  lease  of  Reservoir  Square,  upon  two  conditions  :  that 
the  building  should  be  of  glass  and  iron,  and  that  no  more 
than  fifty  cents  should  be  charged  for  admission.  A  Charter 
tor  the  "  Association  for  the  Exhibition  of  the  Industry  of 
All  Nations,"  was  granted  by  the  Legislature  upon  the  11th 
of  March,  1862,  authorizing  the  association  to  issue  stock 
to  the  amount  of  a  half  million  dollars.  Upon  the  17th  of 
March,  an  organization  was  effected,  Theodore  Sedgwick, 
Esq.,  being  elected  President.  Subscriptions  to  stock  were 
rapidly  made.  The  Secretary  of  State  urged  the  importance 
of  the  scheme  upon  the  representatives  of  our  Government 
to  foreign  countries,  and  the  resident  Ministers  of  foreign 
powers  responded  cordially  to  the  letters  addressed  to  them, 
soliciting  their  influence  in  securing  the  co-operation  of 
European  nations. 

A  plan  for  an  exhibition  building  was  presented  by  Sir 
Joseph  Paxton,  the  architect  of  the  London  Crystal  Palace, 

*  llth  of  March,  1862,  above— should  read  March  11th,  1852. 


10  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

but  the  contract  was  finally  awarded  to  Messrs.  Carstensen 
&  Gildermeister,  architects;  $175,000  being  appropriated 
for  the  purpose.  The  edifice  was  constructed  in  the  form 
of  a  Greek  cross,  the  length  of  each  diameter  being  365  feet 
5  inches,  and  the  widtli  of  the  arms  149  feet  5  inches.  The 
dome  over  the  intersection  of  the  arms  was  100  feet  in 
diameter,  the  height  to  the  spring  line  being  TO  feet,  and 
to  the  crown  of  the  arch  123  feet.  Thirty-two  ornamented 
windows  of  stained  glass,  representing  the  arms  of  the 
Union  and  of  the  several  States,  gave  light  and  beauty  to 
the  interior  of  the  dome.  The  building  was  mainly  of  iron 
and  glass.  The  contract  for  construction  was  signed 
August  26th,  1852,  and  the  first  column  raised  October  30th. 
The  exhibition  was  first  expected  to  be  opened  May  1st, 
1853,  but  various  causes  so  delayed  it  that  the  official 
opening  did  not  take  place  until  July  14th.  An  addition 
to  the  building,  451  feet  5  inches  long  and  75  feet  wide, 
for  the  reception  of  machinery  in  motion,  refreshment 
saloons,  etc.,  was  added  to  the  original  plan.  Eighteen 
hundred  tons  of  iron  were  employed  in  the  construction, 
with  55,000  square  feet  of  glass  and  750,000  feet  of  timber. 
The  total  area  of  the  building  was  249,691  feet,  or  5f  acres. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  and  a  large  number  of 
eminent  officials  of  this  and  foreign  countries  were  present 
at  the  opening.  Many  of  the  goods  designed  for  exhibition 
were  not  in  place  until  late  in  the  summer.  The  price  of 
season  tickets  was  $10  ;  of  single  tickets,  50  cents  for  adults 
and  25  cents  for  children,  and  of  tickets  good  for  two  months, 
$5.  The  season  tickets  sold  up  to  the  third  day  of  the 
exhibition,  amounted  to  $30,060.  The  goods  were  admitted 
to  the  building  free  of  duty.  After  September  2d,  the 
Exhibition  was  opened  from  7  to  10  p.m.  The  Exhibition 
was  not  a  very  great  financial  success,  the  building  having 
been  destroyed  by  fire.  The  shares  (par  value  $100,)  at  one 
time  rose  to  $17~>. 


industrial  exhibitions.  11 

The    Suydenham    Palace. 

No  one  of  the  many  places  of  interest  in  and  about  Lon- 
don is  more  attractive  than  the  Suydenham  Crystal  Palace, 
at  Penge  Park,  near  Suydenham.  It  is  distant  about  six  miles 
from   London,  hourly  trains  (from  London  Bridge,)  taking 
the  visitor  to  the  Palace  Grounds  in  fifteen  minutes.     This 
Palace  is  the  sequel  to  the  Crystal  Palace  of  1851,  in  Hyde 
Park.     At  the  close  of  that  Exhibition,  a  company  of  in- 
fluential gentlemen  was  formed  with  a  view  of  purchasing 
the  Hyde  Park  building  and  establishing  it  permanently  in 
some  convenient  locality.     About  three  hundred  acres  of 
land  were  secured,  as  above  noted,  the  price  paid  for  the 
land  alone  being  greater  than  the  cost  of  the  Hyde  Park 
building.     The  Company  has  a  paid-up  capital  of  £800,000 
or  $4-,000,000.     Thither  the  great  Crystal  Palace  was  re- 
moved and  re-constructed  in  a  slightly  modified  form.      In 
place  of  the  original  nearly  flat  roof,  a  curved  roof  was  put 
on,  and  the  length  of  the  building  diminished  from  1,848  to 
1,500  feet.     Xo  expense  or  labor  was  spared  to  make  the 
building  all  that  could  be  desired.      One  million  dollars 
were  spent  for  hydraulic  arrangements  alone.    The  grounds 
were  laid  out    with  great    skill    and  taste, — with  groves, 
streams,  fountains,  and  all  that  can  add  beauty  to  the  scene. 
A  part  of  the  building  was  subsequently  destroyed  by  fire, 
but  enough  remains  to  bewilder  the  visitor  by  the  multitude 
of  artistic  charms.  In  the  edifice,  there  are  Roman,  Grecian, 
Assyrian.  Italian  and   German  Courts,  devoted  not  only  to 
exhibition    of    the    rarest    artistic    productions    of    those 
countries,  but  to  a  valuable  exposition  of  the   architecture 
prevailing    in    or   emanating   from    those   nations.      Sixty 
thousand  pounds  were  devoted  to  models  and  copies  of  the 
most  noted  statues  and  groups  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome. 
Twenty-five  thousand  pounds  were  paid  for  the  Luddiges 
collection  of  exotics.     Upon   such  a  liberal  scale  has  the 


12  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

enterprise  been  fostered  and  its  attractions  sustained.  The 
whole  has  been  enlivened  by  daily  concerts  by  a  band  which 
has  thus  made  itself  famous,  while  notable  dramatic  per- 
formances and  other  great  public  gatherings  have  found 
here  the  best  place  for  their  celebration.  Audiences  of 
thirty  thousand  persons  have  frequently  listened  here  to 
concerts  by  three  thousand  children,  and  upon  special  fete 
occasions  there  have  been  as  many  as  sixty-five  thousand 
persons  present. 

Excursion  tickets  from  London,  including  admission  to 
the  Palace,  are  issued  at  2s.  6d,  and  2s.  for  first  and  second 
class,  respectively. 

The  Paris  Exposition  of  1867. 

On  the  first  of  April,  1867,  the  Thirteenth  Official  Expo- 
sition was  opened  in  the  Champs  de  Mars.  The  building 
erected  for  the  purpose  was  radically  different  from  any  that 
had  been  previously  designed  for  similar  objects.  It  was 
elliptical  in  form,  arranged  with  a  series  of  aisles  running 
entirely  around  the  structure,  with  transverse  passages  from 
the  centre  to  the  circumference,  cutting  the  aisles  at  right 
angles.  The  remark  attributed  to  the  Emperor,  that  it  was 
"  a  huge  gasometer,"  was  a  terse  description  of  the  general 
effect  of  this  method  of  construction.  The  spaces  between 
the  transverse  passages  were  assigned  to  the  various  nations 
exhibiting,  the  design  being  that  in  each  of  these  spaces  a 
certain  class  of  goods  should  occupy  the  place  nearest  to  the 
centre,  another,  class  the  next  outward  position,  and  so  on, 
so  that  a  visitor  passing  through  any  one  of  the  aisles  from 
the  entrance  around  the  building,  back  to  the  place  of  be- 
ginning, would,  in  this  walk,  see  only  the  same  general  class 
of  goods,  as  shown  by  the  different  nations.  The  building 
was  devoid  of  beauty,  whatever  imposing  effect  it  had  being 
due  to  its  immensity.    The  Champs  de  Mars  contains  about 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  13 

100  acres,  of  which  about  35  acres  were  covered  by  the 
Exposition  building,  which  was  1,500  feet  by  1,250.  The 
credit  of  the  plan,  it  is  said,  should  be  divided  between  the 
Emperor,  Prince  Kapoleon,  the  Baron  Haussman  and  Mons. 
Le  Play. 

At  the  opening,  April  1st,  everything  was  confusion,  and 
the  Exposition  was  almost  universally  considered  a  great 
failure.  But  a  month's  energetic  effort  so  changed  the  gen- 
eral aspect,  that  on  the  first  of  May  public  opinion  was  as 
unanimous  in  declaring  it  a  great  success.  The  Exposition 
was  financially  successful,  and  brilliant  in  the  extreme, 
nearly  all  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe  taking  the  occasion 
to  pay  royal  visits  to  the  French  capital,  where  they  were 
imperially  entertained.  The  Exposition  finally  closed,  jSov. 
17th,  231  days  from  its  opening. 

dPQWfti    of    New    Yark    audi    itt 
Surrounding*'. 

Nearly  twenty  years  have  passed  since  the  JS"ew  York 
Crystal  Palace  stood  in  Reservoir  Square.  It  is  superfluous 
to  say  that  the  Empire  City  has  wonderfully  changed  and 
grown  within  that  time.  Streets  have  been  opened  and 
rapidly  built  up  upon  the  upper  part  of  Manhattan  Island ; 
trade  has  crowded  upon  residences,  until  the  best  streets 
below  Union  Square  are  given  up  to  traffic ;  the  Central 
Park  has  been  laid  out  and  made  the  people's  play  ground  ; 
other  places,  which  were  parks  at  that  day,  are  now  cov- 
ered with  warehouses ;  what  was  then  "  up  town"  has  become 
"  down  town  ;"  the  population  of  the  city  has  increased 
from  515,394,  in  1850,  to  about  1,000,000,  in  1870;  the 
valuation  of  property  in  the  city  is  $1,000,000,000,  against 
$351,708,4:20,  in  1852.  In  1853,  Twenty-third  street  was 
virtually  the  head  of  Fifth  avenue ;  the  map  of  the  city 
showed  the  "  Bloomingdale  Road"  as  beginning  at  Madison 


14  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

Square ;  the  Second  Avenue  Street  Railroad  ran  only  to 
Forty-second  Street,  the  Third  Avenue  Cars  to  Sixty-first, 
the  Sixth  Avenue  to  Forty-fourth,  and  the  Eighth  Avenue 
to  Fifty-ninth.  The  passengers  by  the  Camden  and  Amboy 
Railroad  took  boat  to  South  Amboy  and  thence  to  Phila- 
delphia by  rail ;  those  for  the  Erie  Road  were  carried  by 
boat  to  Piermont,  which  was  the  eastern  terminus  of  the 
road,  and  travelers  by  the  New  Haven  Railroad  started 
from  29  Canal  Street.  Mayor  Westervelt,  in  his  annual 
message,  January  1,  1854,  deprecated  the  proposal  to  take 
000  acres  between  Fifty-ninth  and  One  Hundred  and  Sixth 
Streets  and  Fifth  and  Eighth  Avenues  for  a  grand  Central 
Park,  as  "  an  area,  in  my  judgment,  vastly  more  extensive 
than  is  required  for  the  purpose.  *  *  *  Many  years 
must  elapse  before  our  citizens  can  derive  any  of  the  bene- 
fits which  it  was  anticipated  by  the  friends  of  the  measure 
would  result  from  the  enactment"  of  the  legislative  authority. 
The  telegraph  cable  had  not  been  laid  across  the  North 
River,  and  California  news  was  a  month  in  reaching  New 
York. 

Business  enterprise  has  changed  all  this.  The  site  of  the 
old  Crystal  Palace  was  then  away  out  of  town ;  now  it  is  in 
the  heart  of  the  city.  Seventeen  city  railroad  lines  carry 
their  tens  of  thousands  daily.  Nearly  one  hundred  million 
persons  cross  our  ferries  yearly,  to  homes  in  New  Jersey 
and  on  Long  Island.  Over  three  hundred  trains  per  day 
upon  the  railroads  centering  here,  arrive  loaded  with  pas- 
sengers, which,  allowing  five  cars  to  a  train,  can  bring  to  and 
carry  away  from  this  city  ninety  thousand  persons  per  da}r. 
Burton's  Theatre  has  been  converted  into  a  court  house  ;  the 
Broadway  Theatre  has  been  leveled,  in  obedience  to  the 
insatiable  demands  of  trade.  Hundreds  of  suburban  towns 
have  sprung  into  being,  and  grown  rapidly  into  prosperity 
The  metropolis  is  no  longer  confined  to  Manhattan  Island, 
but  embraces  the  whole  country  for  fifty  miles  around. 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  15 

The  demands  for  education  as  well  as  amusement  have 
increased  in  corresponding  ratio.  Churches,  schools  and 
theatres  have  increased  in  numbers  and  in  strength.  That 
the  people  cordially  support  properly  founded  and  ably 
conducted  places  for  refined  entertainment,  such  structures 
as  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Building,  Booth's 
Theatre,  the  Academy  of  Design,  and  others,  testify.  It  is 
not  New  York  alone,  large  aa  it  is,  which  supports  such 
enterprises.  This  city  is  the  adopted  representative  of  the 
whole  United  States.  In  the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  we,  as  a 
people,  are  more  liberal  than  the  Parisians  themselves. 
Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been  or  may  be  said  of  the 
superior  art  culture  of  European  capitals,  it  is  a  fact  that,  as 
a  nation,  America  is  mure  liberal  in  the  support  of  what  is 
worthy  than  any  other  country,  while  the  vast  scale  upon 
which  our  agricultural  and  manufacturing  development  is 
conducted,  render  us  most  peculiarly  hearty  in  welcoming 
and  adopting  useful  inventions.  Moreover,  our  imports  of 
foreign  goods  yearly  increase  in  quantity  and  value.  The 
United  States  is  at  once  the  harvest  field  and  the  customer 
of  the  world. 


The  Prapasedl  CadttstFtaC  iKfufetttaro, 

The  foregoing  facts,  and  others  of  a  similar  nature,  mani- 
fest to  all  who  examine  the  subject,  have  led  to  a  desire  to 
establish,  in  New  York,  an  International  Industrial  Exhibi- 
tion, which  shall  be  an  illustration  of  our  mechanical  and 
artistic  development,  and  a  bazar  wherein  the  industry 
of  America  and  the  world  may  be  brought  into  profitable 
competition.  A  few  public  spirited  gentlemen,  acting  upon 
this  theory,  obtained  from  the  New  York  Legislature  of 
1870  the  following  Charter,  under  which  it  is  proposed  to 
establish  an  enterprise  which  will  be  an  honor  to  our  city 
and  country. 


16  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

CHARTER. 

AN  ACT  to  Incorporate  the  "  Industrial  Exhibition  Com- 
pany" and  to  authorize  said  Co?npany  to  purchase  real 
estate,  and  to  erect  thereon  a  building  or  buildings  tvhich 
shall  be  used  as  an  Industrial  Exhibition. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate 
and  Assembly,  do  enact  asfolloics : 

Section  I. —  *  *  *  their  associates,  successors  and  assigns 
shall  be,  and  they  are  hereby  declared  and  created  a  body  cor- 
porate and  politic,  by  the  name  and  style  of  the  Industrial 
Exhibition  Company,  and  by  that  name  shall  have  succes- 
sion, and  all  the  powers  and  privileges  conferred  upon  a 
corporation  created  under  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  entitled  "An  Act  to  authorize  the 
formation  of  Corporations  for  Manufacturing,  Mining,  Me- 
chanical or  Chemical  Purposes,"  passed  February  seven- 
teenth, eighteen  hundred  and  forty-eight;  and  the  several 
Acts  extending  and  amending  said  Acts,  are  hereby  granted 
to  said  Industrial  Exhibition  Company;  and  said  Corporation 
shall  be  subject  to  all  the  duties,  obligations  and  liabilities 
prescribed  by  said  Act,  and  the  Acts  amendatory  thereof, 
except  as  hereinafter  provided. 

Section  II. — The  Capital  Stock  of  said  Company  shall  be 
two  million  dollars,  to  be  divided  into  twenty  thousand 
shares  of  one  hundred  dollars  each,  but  it  shall  be  lawful 
for  the  board  of  directors  of  said  Company,  by  the  vote  of 
two-thirds  of  the  members  thereof,  to  increase  the  same  to 
seven  millions.  It  shall  not  commence  business  until  at 
least  one  million  of  the  stock  shall  be  subscribed  for,  and 
twenty  per  cent,  thereof,  or  a  sum  equal  to  that  amount, 
actually  paid  in. 

Section  III. — All  the  affairs  of  said  Corporation  shall  be 
managed  by  a  Board  of  not  more  than  fifty-two  Directors, 
who  shall,  except  as  hereinafter  provided,  be  annually 
elected  by  the  Stockholders. 

Section  IV. — The  said  Corporation  is  hereby  authorized 
to  purchase  and  hold  such  real  estate  as  may  be  necessary 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS  IT 

and  to  construct  thereon  such  buildings  as  may  be  necessary 
for  the  maintenance  and  carrying  on  of  the  business  of  exhib- 
iting the  products,  goods,  wares  and  merchandise,  machinery, 
mechanical  inventions  and  improvements  of  every  nature, 
name  and  kind,  and  such  as  are  usually  exhibited  at  fairs, 
and  to  award  and  pay  to  exhibitors  therein  such  prizes  and 
medals,  and  honorary  distinctions,  as  they  shall  deem 
proper ;  and  to  lease,  let,  or  own  stalls,  stands,  rooms  and 
places  in  said  building  or  buildings,  upon  such  terms  and 
conditions  as  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  deem  best  for  the 
interests  of  said  Company,  and  for  the  promotion  of  Science, 
Art,  Commerce  and  Literature.  And  the  said  Company  is 
hereby  further  authorized  to  construct  studios  and  picture 
galleries,  and  to  exhibit  therein  paintings  and  statuary  of 
any  nature  and  kind,  and  to  buy  and  sell  such  paintings  and 
statuary,  and  to  award  such  prizes  for  the  creation  of  the 
same  as  such  Board  of  Directors  may  deem  proper;  and 
generally,  said  corporation  shall  have  power  to  carry  on  in 
its  said  buildings,  erected  for  the  purposes  hereinbefore 
mentioned,  all  legal  and  proper  business.  And  said  Cor- 
poration is  hereby  further  authorized  to  purchase  and  hold, 
by  gift,  subject  to  all  provisions  of  law  relating  to  devises 
and  bequest  by  last  will  and  testament,  grant,  lease  or 
conveyance,  any  real  estate,  or  interest  therein,  which  shall 
be  necessary  or  useful  for  carrying  on  the  business  hereby 
authorized  to  be  carried  on  by  said  Corporation. 

Section  T. — Said  Company  is  hereby  authorized  and 
fully  empowered,  in  its  corporate  capacity,  to  borrow  any 
sums  of  money  from  any  person  or  persons,  corporation  or 
body  politic,  of  any  kind,  for  any  rate  of  interest  which  may 
be  agreed  upon  by  and  between  said  Company  and  any  per- 
son or  party  of  whom  said  money  may  be  obtained ;  and  to 
make,  execute  and  deliver  all  necessary  writings,  notes, 
bonds,  mortgages,  or  other  papers  and  securities  in  amount 
and  kind  which  may  be  deemed  expedient  by  said  Corpora- 
tion, in  consideration  of  any  such  loan,  or  in  discharge  of 
any  liabilities  that  it  may  incur  in'the  purchase  of  its  said 
real  estate,  or  in  the  construction  of  its  said  buildings,  and 
in  carrying  on  of  its  said  business  ;  and  the  power  of  said 
Corporation  for  all  purposes  necessary  to  carry  out  the  object 
of  said  Company  are  hereby  ratified  and  confirmed,  and  the 
2 


18  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

contracts  and  official  acts  of  said  Company  declared  binding 
in  law  and  equity  upon  said  Corporation,  and  npon  all  the 
parties  to  such  contracts. 

Section  VI. — The  first  fifty-two  persons  named  in  this 
Act  shall  constitute  the  first  Board  of  Directors,  and  shall 
have  the  power  to  name  a  Board  of  Regents  not  to  exceed 
in  numbers  (10)  ten  for  each  State  or  Territory  in  the  United 
States  ;  and  also  a  Board  of  Regents  for  other  Countries  that 
may  propose  to  exhibit  wares  in  such  building,  the  Regents 
to  hold  office  at  pleasure  of  the  Board ;  and  these  first  fifty- 
two  Corporators  shall  constitute  the  first  Board  of  Directors, 
until  the  Capital  Stock  of  said  Company  shall  have  been 
subscribed  for  and  paid  in  in  full,  and  the  said  building 
shall  have  been  constructed  ;  after  which  time,  said  Directors 
shall  be  annually  elected  by  the  Stockholders,  as  prescribed 
in  said  Act,  entitled  "  An  Act  to  authorize  the  formation  of 
Corporations  for  Manufacturing,  Mining,  Mechanical  or 
Chemical  Purposes,"  passed  February  seventeenth,  eighteen 
hundred  and  forty-eight ;  and  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in  the 
said  first  Board  of  Directors,  occasioned  by  death,  resigna- 
tion or  otherwise,  the  persons  remaining  in  said  Board  shall 
have  power  to  fill  such  vacancy  by  appointment. 

Section  VII. — The  first  Board  of  Directors  shall  have 
power  to  elect  such  officers  as  they  may  deem  advisable, 
who  shall  hold  their  respective  offices  during  the  existence 
of  the  first  Board  of  Directors,  unless  vacancy  is  caused  by 
their  own  act.  After  tllis  Act  becomes  a  law,  any  five  of 
the  herein  named  Directors  may,  by  signing  a  call  and  pub- 
lishing such  call  in  a  daily  paper  for  twenty  consecutive 
days,  and  by  mailing  a  printed  notice  to  each  of  the  Directors 
herein  named,  twenty  days  prior  to  ,the  time  of  such  meet- 
ing, convene  the  Board ;  and  if  there  are  present  at  such 
meeting  thirteen  of  the  herein  named  Directors,  they  may 
proceed  to  elect  such  officers  as  shall  be  necessary,  and  to 
adopt  a  set  of  By-laws. 

Section  VIII. — The  building  to  be  erected  shall  be  fire- 
proof. 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  19 

Section  IX. — Persons  subscribing  to  the  Stock  of  this 
Company  or  being  Directors,  shall  incur  no  personal  liabil- 
ities beyond  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock  held  and 
owned  by  them  respectively. 

Section  X. — The  Corporation  hereby  created  shall  pos- 
sess all  the  powers  and  be  subject  to  the  provisions  of  title 
third  of  Chapter  18  of  Part  1,  of  the  Revised  Statutes. 

Section  XI. — This  Act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


Magnitude  of  the  "Work. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  charter  gives  liberal  authority,  and 
that,  if  the  Directors  carry  out  in  full  the  authority  thus 
given  them,  they  will  have  a  greater  work  upon  their  hands 
than  has  ever  before  been  attempted  for  a  similar  purpose. 
All  previous  international  exhibitions  have  been  temporary 
in  their  character ;  this  is  designed  to  be  permanent.  The 
greater  part  of  the  large  capital  has  already  been  subscribed, 
and  much  preliminary  work  is  being  done.  It  is  proposed  to 
combine  all  the  best  features  of  past  great  exhibitions,  and  to 
do  all  upon  a  liberal  scale.  The  edifice  to  be  erected  will 
be,  in  itself,  an  exposition  of  art  in  architecture ;  there  will 
be  galleries  of  painting  and  statuary  ;  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural departments,  where  notable  products  will  always 
find  opportunity  for  exhibition  and  competition;  mechanical 
and  scientific  departments,  where  inventions  of  new  motive 
powers  or  new  applications  of  those  already  in  use,  will 
receive  critical  and  intelligent  examination  and  verdict ; 
commercial  departments,  where  the  various  products  of 
domestic  and  foreign  industry  may  have  opportunity  for 
beneficial  exchange  ;  conservatories  of  native  and  foreign 
plants,  flowers  and  fruits ;  courses  of  literary,  scientific  and 
useful  philosophical  lectures ;  one  or  more  immense  halls  for 


20  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

grand  concerts  or  occasions  of  other  great  public  gatherings  ; 
cabinets  of  minerals,  shells  and  fossils,  and  whatever  else 
may  be  needed  to  make  up  the  most  complete  industrial 
exhibition  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  To  do  all  this,  and 
to  do  it  well,  will  require  extraordinary  skill  and  energy. 
Xo  half-way  work  will  answer  the  needs  of  the  city  and 
country,  or  prove  remunerative  to  those  who  embark  in  the 
enterprise.  The  public  will,  it  is  believed,  give  generous 
support  to  anything  that  is  liberally  and  wisely  founded 
and  energetically  and  judiciously  conducted. 

Beside  all  labor  incident  to  organizing  and  conducting  the 
exhibition  itself,  as  such,  there  will  need  to  be  very  careful 
consideration  of  the  arrangements  for  minutely  and  impar- 
tially examining  all  articles  in  competition,  and  deciding 
upon  their  proper  comparative  merit.  The  selection  of 
juries  upon  the  different  classes  of  goods,  will  be  not  the  least 
of  the  arduous  duties  of  the  directors  of  the  enterprise.  It 
is  intended  that  this  shall  be  done  with  the  utmost  care,  and 
a  due  consideration -for  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned. 

Special  Advantages  of  New  York. 
Granting  that   America  is  large  enough,  rich  enough  and 
ambitious  enough  to  make  such  an   exhibition  a  national 
-enterprise,  to  be  nationally  supported,  what  is  the  best  point 
for  its  location  ?    In  discussing  this  question,  reference  must 
be  had,  not  to  geographical  or  political  lines,  but  to  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  considerations.     If  a  solely  agri- 
cultural display  was  proposed,  the  West  would  have  strong 
claim  to  its  possession.      If  a  purely  manufacturing  exhibi- 
tion was  the  object,  New  England  would  justly  claim  pre- 
eminence.   If  the  design  was  simply  to  enhance  our  national 
glory,  and  no  question  of  dollars  and  cents  was  permitted  to 
enter,  then  the  Washington ians  would   have  a  clear  field 
against  all  competitors,  and   another  Smithsonian  Institute, 
larger  and  finer  than  even  that  creditable  institution,  would 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  21 

be  added  to  the  white  marble  structures  which  fill  up  the 
measure  of  the  sights  of  our  national  capital.  If  an  illustra- 
tion of  our  mineral  wealth  was  the  object  to  be  attained, 
then  Pittsburgh,  St.  Louis,  Cleveland  and  Marquette  might 
fight  out  the  question  of  location  among  themselves  ;  or  if  a 
place  of  summer  resort  was  alone  sought,  Lake  George, 
Newport,  Saratoga  and  Long  Branch  could  put  in  their 
several  powerful  claims.  But  no  one  of  these  comprises  the 
design.  It  is,  rather,  the  intention  to  combine  all  these, 
and  more.  And  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  actual  com- 
prehensive plan,  there  is  no  place  so  favorable  as  New 
York. 

We  have,  at  hand,  a  city  of  a  million  inhabitants,  with 
other  millions  within  one  hour's  ride.  We  Jiave  quick 
access  to  all  parts  of  our  vast  and  growing  country,  by  rail 
and  boat.  We  are  in  daily  communication  with  the  chief 
shipping  ports  of  Western  Europe,  and  nearly  all  foreign 
transportation  of  goods  or  persons  passes  through  New  York 
Bay.  In  the  matter  of  accommodation  for  the  throng  of 
visitors  to  such  an  exhibition,  and  of  administering  to  their 
material  and  mental  wants,  no  city  in  the  land  can  compare 
with  this.  Our  hotel  accommodations  are  far  in  advance  of 
those  of  London  or  Paris ;  the  amount  and  variety  of  natu- 
ral scenery  or  of  seaside  enjoyment,  within  easy  reach,  is 
equally  superior.  No  other  city  in  all  this  growing  country 
presents  to  the  foreign  visitor  so  energetic  and  striking 
phases  of  live  Americanism  as  this.  In  fashionable  display 
we  are  not  outdone  by  the  gayest  of  European  capitals,  and 
in  the  sturdy  and  industrious  walks  of  life,  no  other  city 
exceeds  us.  When  another  half  century  has  been  added  to 
American  growth,  one  of  the  great  inland  cities,  like  Chicago 
or  St.  Louis,  may,  perhaps,  have  just  claim  to  be  the  best 
place  at  which  to  exhibit  the  products  of  American  indus- 
try ;  but  now,  and  for  many  years  to  come,  New  York  is, 
unquestionably,  the  most  accessible  and  the  most  favorable 


22  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

place  in  which  to  collect  the  evidences  of  the  educated  labor 
of  the  civilized  world.  * 

Estimates  of  Business. 

Calculations  in  advance  are  necessarily  imperfect.  The 
Commissioners  for  the  World's  Fair  of  1851,  hoped  to  re- 
ceive patronage  enough  to  repay  the  liabilities  incurred  in 
the  erection  of  the  building — about  $400,000 — and  the 
operating  expenses.  They  met  with  most  unexpected  and 
triumphant  success,  the  receipts  for  14*1  days,  being,  as 
we  have  previously  noted,  more  than  $2,500,000,  an  aver- 
age of  more  than  seventeen  thousand  dollars  per  day.  The 
average  of  visitors  was  more  than  forty-two  thousand 
per  day.  ^Twenty,  thirty,  and  forty  thousand  per  day  are 
seen  at  the  Suydenham  Palace.  Twenty-two  thousand  per 
day  was  the  average  for  198  days  at  the  Palace  de  Indus- 
trie of  1855.  The  Exposition  in  1867  numbered  its  daily 
visitors  by  tens  of  thousands.  Even  the  New  York  Exhi- 
bition of  1853,  in  a  location  not  then  easily  accessible,  was 
visited  by  thousands  every  day.  New  York,  in  1872,  with  the 
whole  country  looking  to  it  as  the  Mecca  of  their  amusement 
and  recreation,  should  do  as  well,  continually,  as  London  did 
in  1851.  The  facilities  of  travel,  in  our  country,  are  greater 
than  they  were  then  in  England ;  our  people  spend  money 
more  liberally  than  ever  their  European  cousins  did ;  more 
people  will  come  from  England  to  attend  this  Industrial  Exhi- 
bition than  went  from  America  to  London  ;  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  emigrants  who  annually  arrive  upon  our  shores 
will,  of  themselves,  make  up  a  profitable  attendance  upon 
the  Exhibition  which  places  before  their  eyes  the  familiar 
forms  of  the  productions  of  their  native  lands;  as  our  com- 
merce grows  with  our  population  and  wealth,  our  merchants 
will  throng  the  exhibition  halls  to  see  what  new  fabrics  are 
being  prepared  for  their  customers ;  foreign  producers  and 
their  American  agents  will   find   this  the  best  place  for 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  23 

effecting  advantageous  sales  through  a  proper  display  of  the 
articles  which  they  have  for  sale ;  the  giant  farmers  of  the 
Illinois  prairies,  or  the  Platte  Valley,  will  keep  watcli  of  the 
-exhibition  rooms  to  see  what  new  helps  machinery  is  giving 
them  for  the  tillage  of  their  broad  fields  ;  the  m<an  of  science, 
the  artist,  and  the  artisan,  will  each  find  here  a  working 
model  of  the  industrial  and  artistic  world  ;  while  the  whole 
population,  permanent  or  transient,  will  delight  in  an  ever 
•changing  and  increasing  museum  of  wonders  and  delight- 
ful surprises.  Who  has  ever  tired  of  visiting  the  Central 
Park  ?  and  yet  the  Park  is  limited  in  its  range  of  attrac- 
tions, and  is  shorn  of  its  chief  beauty  during  all  the  winter 
months.  When  the  Industrial  Exhibition  building  offers 
through  every  month  and  day  of  the  successive  years,  a  per- 
petually blooming  garden,  and  a  collection  of  statuary  and 
of  architectural  devices  more  full  and  interestino-  than 
even  Central  Park  can  boast,  and  to  these  delights  adds  all 
the  other  solid  attractions  which  have  been  hinted  at  above, 
the  whole  made  doubly  desirable  by  daily  concerts  of  the 
choicest  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  it  is  fair  to  presume 
that  the  tide  of  visitors,  including  representatives  of  all  the 
civilized  nations  under  the  sun,  will  be  as  unceasing  as  that 
which  now  crowds  the  entrance  to  the  People's  Play 
Ground. 

Location,  &o. 

Of  course,  much  of  the  success  of  the  enterprise  will  de- 
pend upon  wisdom  in  selecting  its  site.  It  is  impossible  at 
this  early  date,  to  determine  where  that  will  be.  It  should 
be  as  near  the  heart  of  the  city  as  it  is  possible,  to  find 
ample  space  and  appropriate  surroundings.  To  place  it 
where  it  could  only  be  reached  by  tedious  or  disagreeable 
journeying,  would  at  once  prevent  its  enjoyment  by  the 
masses  of  the  people,  or  a.  remunerative  return  for  the 
outlay  of  the  company.     Various  sites  have  been  suggested 


24:  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

and  their  claims  urged  upon  the  directors, — Long  Island, 
Staten  Island,  New  Jersey,  and  Westchester  County,  have 
been  under  consideration,  while  leading  citizens  have  pro- 
tested against  any  removal  of  the  exhibition  outside  of  the 
limits  of  the  city  itself,  asserting  that  either  in  Central  Park 
or  in  some  other  of  the  public  parks  can  the  necessities  of 
the  case  best  be  met.  Accessibility,  pleasantness  of  surround- 
ings, and  availability  through  the  winter  as  well  as  summer, 
will  be  the  main  features  which  must  pertain  to  whatever 
location  may  finally  be  determined  upon. 

The  advantages  of  Madison  Square  for  the  Exhibition 
building,  are  being  urged  by  many  citizens.  Upon  this 
point,  the  New  York  Tribune  says: 

"  The  excellent  neighborhood,  the  fine  hotels  convenient,  and  its 
accessibility  from  all  parts  of  the  City,  make  the  square  a  most  eligible 
spot.  It  is  no  part  of  the  plan  to  remove  the  trees  and  grass  plots  ;  the 
former  are  to  be  retained,  and  the  latter  will  be  much  improved." 

The  Evening  Post  says  of  this  location  : 

"  This  place  is  easy  of  access  from  all  points  in  the  City,  is  in  & 
fashionable  neighborhood,  and  will  at  once  determine,  in  a  great  measure,, 
the  character  of  the  enterprise." 

The  New  York  Standard  says  : 

"  All  things  considered,  we  know  of  no  place  so  well  adapted  for  the- 
building  as  Madison  Square.  *  *  The  location  is  the  best  in  the  City, 
as  it  has  handsome  surroundings,  the  hotels  in  the  vicinity  are  numerous,, 
and  it  is  easy  of  access.  We  cannot  see  any  objection  to  this  adaptation 
of  Madison  Square.  It  will  have  ten  fold  more  attractions  for  refined 
people  than  now.  *  *  *  The  public  should  take  an  interest  in  this 
matter,  because  it  benefits  them  more  than  it  does  any  one  else." 

The  Commercial  Advertiser  says  : 

"  The  advantages  of  the  site  are  many,  and  the  promoters  of  the  project 
assert  that  if  they  obtain  it,  they  will  add  largely  to  its  attractions." 

The  Express  says : 

"*  *  New  York  City,  the  Metropolis  of  the  land,  is  the  most  ap- 
propriate place  in  which  to  erect  the  building.  To  secure  the  sufficient 
amount  of  ground,  it  would  be  requisite  to  build  upon  one  of  the 
Parks  of  the  City,  and  no  one  is  better  calculated  for  the  purpose 
than  Madison  Square." 

Manifestly,  many  of  the  details  of  the  exhibition,  such  as 

terms  of  admission,  rent  or  sales  of  spaces  for  exhibition  or 

sale,  the  exact  kind  or  number  of  prizes  to  be  awarded,  the- 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  25 

division  into  classes  of  articles  entered,  &c,  cannot  yet  be 
announced.  The  organization  of  the  company  was  only 
effected  upon  the  12th  of  May,  1870,  and  there  is  a  vast 
amount  of  labor  to  be  performed  before  any  minute  descrip- 
tion of  the  plan  can  be  given.  The  plan  of  the  building, 
itself,  cannot  be  determined  upon  until  the  ground  for  its- 
erection  has  been  obtained,  in  order  that  the  architects  may 
secure  a  proper  harmony  between  the  structure  and  its  sur- 
roundings. 

In  considering  the  probable  financial  success  of  the  ex- 
hibition, it  maybe  of  interest  to  see  what  expenditures  were 
incurred  by  the  visitors  to  the  London  Fair  of  1851.  The 
entrance  fee  upon  certain  specified  days,  was  one  pound, 
five  shillings,  two  shillings  and  sixpence,  and  one  shilling, 
respectively.  The  average  amount  expended  by  each 
visitor,  for  entrance,  purchases  of  catalogues,  refreshments, 
deposit  of  umbrellas  and  parcels,  and  purchase  of  souvenier 
medals,  was  as  follows : 

On  days  when  entrance  was  £1     -     - 

"  u  "  5s.  -     - 

"  "  "  2s.  6d. 

"  "  "  Is.  -     - 

The  receipts  of  the  London  Exhibition  were  at  the  rate  of 
more  than  five  million  dollars  per  annum.  New  York  and 
its  suburbs  has  a  population  equal  to  that  of  London  in  1851  ; 
it  has  a  vastly  greater  country  of  which  it  is  the  metropolis  ; 
its  means  of  communication,  by  sea  and  land,  are  greatly 
superior;  it  has  more  and  better  hotel  accommodation  for 
strangers;  and  the  American  people  are  more  liberal  in 
their  expenditures  for  amusement  and  instruction  than  those 
of  England. 

ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COMPANY. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  49  Wall  Street,  May  12th,  1870,  E. 
McMURDY    was    elected    President    of    the    Company; 


20s. 

7d. 

5s. 

5d. 

3s. 

Od. 

Is. 

3d. 

26  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

Joseph  S.  Decker,  Vice-President,  and  James  Turner  (of 
Turner  Brothers,  Bankers),  Treasurer.  A  committee  to 
report  upon  a  site  for  the  building  was  appointed ;  the  first 
assessment  of  the  capital  stock  was  paid  in,  and  other  pre- 
liminary business  transacted.  The  names  of  the  Directors 
and  of  such  other  officers  as  shall  be  appointed,  will  soon  be 
published.  The  Company  is  fairly  under  way,  and  we  shall 
be  able  to  report  rapid  progress  during  the  season.  It  is 
expected  that  the  Exhibition  will  be  opened  in  the  Spring 
of  1872,  it  being  impossible  to  erect  such  a  building  as  the 
Directors  contemplate,  in  season  for  opening  in  1871. 

©prjdbcti  af  tit©   fr¥©38. 

The  leading  newspapers  of  New  York,  appreciating  the 
importance  of  this  great  enterprise  to  this  city  and  the  whole 
country,  and  the  influence  it  must  have  in  stimulating  art 
and  industry,  have  cordially  commended  the  plan  in  their 
columns.     Some  of  these  articles  we  quote  below  : 

[From  the  New  York  Herald,  May  8,  1870.] 
THE  CRYSTAL  PALACE. 

AMUSEMENTS  OF  THE  PEOPLE — A   SUYDENIIAM   PALACE   FOR   NEW   YORK 
— WHAT   IS   PROPOSED  TO   DO   AND   HOW   TO   DO   IT. 

It  is  no  new  thing  to  say  that  people  must  have  amusement.  A  prob- 
lem most  difficult  of  solution,  frequently  presented  to  despotic  rulers  in 
the  States  of  Europe,  is,  how  to  afford  rational  amusement  to  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  at  a  cheap  rate,  which,  while  being  harmless  in  its 
character,  will  serve  to  elevate  the  standard  of  popular  taste  and  thereby 
improve  the  people.  Our  citizens  resent  such  governmental  interference  ; 
but  as  it  is  a  characteristic  of  men  prejudiced  against  a  system  to  reject 
anything,  good  as  well  as  evil,  connected  therewith,  the  many  excellent 
points  in  the  local  governments  of  European  countries  are  altogether 
discarded  by  us.  We  are  making  rapid  strides  in  advance,  however,  and 
are  beginning  to  understand  that  everything  not  purely  native  in  its 
origin  is  not  necessarily  unworthy  of  imitation. 

The  people  will  seek  amusement,  and  from  the  humanitarian  endeavor 
to  properly  guide  this  universal  desire  come  our  Academies  of  Design, 
our  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations  and  our  Park.  It  is  not  easy  to 
estimate  the  good  which  has  been  done  by  the  last,  or  by  the  establish- 
ment of  such  meritorious  institutions  us  the  Suydenham  Palace  or  the 
Kensington  Gardens  to  a  great  city  like  London.  How  many  young  men 
have  spent  there  the  shillings  and  the  hours  they  might  otherwise  have 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS .  li  < 

given  to  wine  and  lewd  women  ?  How  many  young  women  have  found, 
in  the  entertainments  there  obtained,  that  relaxation  and  stimulus,  the 
physical  and  mental  needs  of  which  might  otherwise  have  sent  them  to 
the  bad  ?  Louis  Napoleon  keeps  the  Tuileries  by  giving  the  people  free 
theatres  ;  the  English  Government  has  made  no  more  effective  provision 
for  the  prevention  of  crime  and  the  preservation  of  public  order  than  by 
its  purchases  for  the  Kensington  Museum. 

[After  a  description  of  the  Suydenham  Palace,  the  Herald 
adds  :] 

Something  of  this  sort  we  want  in  New  York.  What  have  we,  except 
the  Park,  for  general  amusement  and  recreation?  Theatres,  like 
churches,  are  for  mental  instruction  and  entertainment,  but  they  are  no 
places  for  young  children,  nor  for  the  laboring  classes,  who  cannot  afford 
the  necessary  expenditure.  Take  away  the  Park,  and  what  remains ? 
Absolutely  nothing  that  can  be  recommended  as  a  place  of  popular  re- 
sort. But  the  Park,  beautiful  and  tasteful  as  it  is,  is  not  complete.  As  a 
playground,  a  drive,  a  promenade  and  a  place  for  out-door  concerts,  it  is 
all  that  can  be  desired,  but  it  by  no  means  gives  New  York  what  the 
Suydenham  Palace  and  grounds  are  to  London.  Moreover,  for  four 
months  in  the  year  the  Park  is  brown  and  sere,  and  the  bleak  winds 
sweep  the  Mall  and  the  Terrace. 

We  need  for  New  York  an  institution  where  a  magnificent  edifice,  in 
the  midst  of  elegant  surroundings,  shall  combine  within  itself  all  forms 
of  reasonable  entertainment  and  give  a  perpetual  stimulus  to  art  and  in- 
vention. It  should  have  galleries  of  the  choicest  paintings  and  statuary  ; 
a  museum  of  all  that  is  rare  and  curious  in  art,  science  and  manufactures  ; 
a  bureau  where  may  be  placed  on  exhibition  and  sale  every  new  invention 
which  Brother  Jonathan  or  any  of  his  friends  from  over  the  sea  may  de- 
vise ;  a  mechanical  workshop,  where  every  variety  of  the  application  of 
steam,  electricity  or  other  motive  power  may  be  seen  in  constant  practical 
illustration  ;  agricultural  and  horticultural  departments,  where  all  attain- 
able products  of  our  own  or  other  countries  may  be  kept  on  exhibition, 
with  persons  in  charge  who  can  intelligently  answer  all  the  multifarious 
questions  which  visitors,  especially  from  the  rural  districts,  will  naturally 
ask  ;  a  ^rand  hall  for  instrumental  concerts  (these  to  be  given  every  day 
when  the  hall  is  not  otherwise  occupied),  operatic  occasions,  monster 
musical  jubilees  or  dramatic  anniversaries  or  commemorative  perform- 
ances and  any  great  public  gatherings  ;  smaller  halls,  where  agriculture 
and  science  could  be  made  popular  by  a  judicious  selection  of  lectures  ; 
the  whole  to  be  under  a  board  of  managers,  who  would  be  liberal  in  ar- 
ranging the  schedule  of  prices  for  exhibition  or  admission,  so  as  to  make 
it  emphatically  the  people's  exchange.  In  addition  to  the  above,  there 
should  be  a  system  of  prizes,  medals  and  honors,  for  which  exhibitors 
could  compete,  and  last,  but  by  no  means  least,  the  structure  should  be 
located  in  the  most  accessible  and  salubrious  spot  to  be  obtained,  even  if 
it  had  to  be  largely  paid  for. 

Can  such  abroad  and  comprehensible  plan  be  carried  out  here?  or, 
rather,  is  it  likely  to  be?  for  anything  can  be  done  here  which  has  been 
or  can  be  done  elsewhere.  It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  project  is 
not  only  feasible,  but  probable.  A  charter  has  been  granted  by  the 
Legislature,  which  confers  sufficient   power  upon  an  "  Industrial   Com- 


2S  [NDTJSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

\  any"  to  enable  them  to  carry  out  something  such  a  programme  as  we 
have  here  sketched.  The  charter  is  for  fifty  years,  "  and  thereafter,  unless 
repealed,"  and  the  capital  is  $7,000,000.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether 
the  incorporators  have  any  adequate  idea  of  what  is  due  from  them  to  the 
city  of  New  York  (and  not  this  city  alone,  but  the  whole  country,  of 
which  this  is  the  metropolis)  in  return  for  such  ample  authority.  These 
incorporators  are  to  hold  their  first  election  of  officers  in  a  few  days. 
Will  they  be  wise  enough  to  choose  men  of  broad  views,  of  quick  appre- 
hension of  the  public  needs,  Of  strict  integrity  and  of  skillful  energy, 
who  will  be  vigorous  in  executing  the  provisions  of  their  charter?  There 
has  never  been  a  more  splendid  opportunity  for  any  body  of  men  to  make 
themselves  benefactors  of  the  city  than  this.  Not  even  the  conception 
and  execution  of  the  Park  plan  was  more  promising  of  beneficial  results, 
provided  always  that  the  men  in  charge  have  the  experience,  the  tact 
and  the  nerve  to  improve  the  opportunity. 

As  to  the  financial  success  of  any  such  undertaking  in  this  city,  there 
can  be  no  question.  No  people  spend  money  more  freely  for  what  is 
really  good  than  our  own.  As  we  exceed  even  the  Parisians  themselves 
in  our  expenditure  for  pleasure,  and  hold  no  tighter  to  a  dollar  than  the 
English  do  to  a  shilling,  we  can  make  of  the  Industrial  Exhibition  a 
more  brilliant  financial  success  than  even  the  World's  Fair  of  1851  or  the 
Paris  Exhibition  of  1867.  This  part  of  the  question  we  propose  to  treat 
more  at  length  at  another  time.  The  JLrald  will  keep  its  readers 
advised  of  the  progress  of  this  great  enterprise,  and  show  our  business 
men  how  their  interest  lies  in  urging  it  to  successful  fruition. 


[From  the  New  York  Times,  April  11th,  1870.] 

A  CRYSTAL  PALACE  FOR  NEW  YORK. 

Those  who  know  what  the  Crystal  Palace  at  Suydenham  has  done  for 
London,  often  wish  that  a  similar  structure,  or  rather  a  structure  for  sim- 
ilar objects,  might  be  built  near  New  York.  A  place  of  unexceptionable 
amusement,  easy  of  access  and  open  everyday  in  the  week  ;  a  place  where 
plenty  of  space,  light  and  flowers  can  be  enjoyed  in  all  weathers,  and 
good  refreshments  obtained  at  fair  prices  ;  a  place  big  enough  for  mon- 
ster festivals  of  every  sort,  and  in  which  concerts  of  good  instrumental 
music  might  be  listened  to,  morning  and  afternoon,  with  an  occasional 
performance  by  operatic  or  other  first-rate  vocalists,  would  be,  we  con- 
ceive, better  appreciated  and  better  patronized  at  New  York  than  at  any 
city  in  the  world. 

During  our  long,  hard  Winters  and  tedious  Springs,  such  a  place 
would  be  a  blessing  indeed.  None  can  tell,  save  they  who  have  expe- 
ienced  it,  the  delight  of  wandering,  during  a  bleak,  inhospitable  day  in 
January,  through  long  lines  of  fragrant  trees  and  flowers,  amid  the  sing- 
ing of  birds  and  plashing  of  fountains,  while  breathing  an  atmosphere 
free  and  pure,  but  tempered  to  the  genial  warmth  of  Summer.  The  en- 
tertainments given  at  the  Palace  have  been  of  the  most  varied  description, 
Two  instrumental  concerts  have  been  BUpplied  on  all  ordinary  days,  by  a 
band  that  has  become  famous  for  its  excellence.  Opera  concerts  have, 
been  frequent,  and  "  mammoth "  performances  of  gnat  musical  works 
have  been  presented,  surpassing  any  ever  given  elsewhere.     There  have 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  29 

been  circuses,  balloons  and  fireworks  in  the  grounds.  The  annual  fete  of 
the  Dramatic  College  has  been  held  there,  and  the  celebrations  and 
gatherings  of  innumerable  other  societies  and  tradesmen's  guilds.  In 
short,  almost  all  the  shows  that  involved  the  probable  gathering  of  great 
numbers  of  people  have  found  in  the  huge  glass  house  suitable  accom- 
modation, and  helped  to  pay  its  expenses.  The  amount  of  healthful 
recreation  that  has  been  taken  in  the  building  and  its  beautiful  grounds 
is  hardly  to  be  calculated  ;  and  if  only  for  the  innocent  pleasure  thus 
afforded'to  tens  of  thousands  of  children,  the  Palace  has  certainly  not  ex- 
isted in  vain. 

Such  a  building  near  New  York  would  do  great  good  It  would  be 
.serviceable  to  trade,  because  it  would  help  to  attract  merchants  and  their 
families  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  it  would  turn  into  the  channels 
•of  unobjectionable  and  instructive  diversion  much  of  the  pleasure-loving 
■spirit  that  now  finds  vent  in  rowdy  beer  gardens,  tipsy  picnics,  and  other 
forms  of  dissipation.  It  would  be  of  assistance  to  art,  because  it  would 
afford  another  field  for  the  display  and  reward  of  talent,  and,  if  well  con- 
ducted, it  might  be  of  vast  assistance  to  the  popular  taste,  through  the 
presentation,  as  we  see  them  at  Suydenham,  of  models  of  the  best  existing 
statuary,  and  as  we  do  not  see  them  at  Suydenham,  of  a  good  gallery  of 
pictures.  We  are  told  there  is  to  be  such  an  establishment.  The  money, 
it  is  said,  has  been  subscribed  to  the  extent  of  .$7,000,000 — a  sum  which 
ought  to  be  ample.  There  are  plenty  of  spots  quite  as  accessible  from  New 
York  as  Upper  Norwood  is  from  London,  among  which  to  select  an  eligi- 
ble site.  Let  us  have  a  Crystal  Palace  by  all  means.  The  idea  is  a  capital 
one,  and  there  is  much  to  encourage  confidence  in  its  pecuniary  success. 


[From  the  Xeiv  York  Tribune.  April  21,  1870.] 
INDUSTRIAL  EXHIBITION. 

A  bill  was  passed  yesterday  by  the  Assembly  to  incorporate  the  New- 
York  "  Industrial  Exhibition  Company."  It  is  of  interest  to  know  what  is 
proposed  by  the  incorporators.  We  have  had  one  Crystal  Palace  ;  London 
has  had  her  World's  Pair,  and  has  the  Suydenham  Palace  ;  Dublin  had 
an  International  Exhibition,  and  Paris  the  Universal  Exposition.  All  of 
these,  save  one,  were  temporary  ;  the  exception  proves  that  such  an  ex- 
hibition, rightly  managed,  maybe  of  continual  benefit.  If  those  who 
have  now  received  authority  to  establish  a  perpetual  exhibition  of  arts 
and  sciences  in  this  city  will  combine  the  good  features  of  all  those  which 
have  gone  before,  they  may  benefit  the  public  as  well  as  themselves. 
That  there  is  room  and  need  here  for  such  an  exhibition  there  is  no  cjues- 
tion.  As  the  representative  city  of  the  nation,  New  York  should 
have  a  continual  exhibition,  to  be  alike  an  index  to  what  had  been 
accomplished  in  agriculture,  in  art,  and  in  science,  and  a  stimulant 
to  further  effort  and  invention.  As  a  matter  of  dollars  and  cents. 
New  York  would  find  a  profit  in  urging  such  a  project  as  this  to 
speedy  consummation.  It  would  put  money  into  the  purses  of  her 
business  men  by  its  influence  in  attracting  visitors.  The  Royal  Commis- 
sioners who  reported  upon  the  World's  Fair  in  London,  in  1851,  placed 
the  number  of  visitors  to  that  exhibition  at  more  than  0,000,000,  although 
the  Fair  was  open  only  from  May  1  to  October  15.  The  profits  of  the 
exhibition  were  more  than  200,000  pounds  sterling,  while  the  amount 


30  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

disbursed  in  the  city  by  visitors  must  have  greatly  exceeded  what  they 
spent  at  the  Palace  itself.  The  Central  Park  has  done  good  service,  and 
such  an  Industrial  Exhibition  as  may  be  made  under  this  charter — if 
those  having  the  work  in  hand  are  sagacious  enough  to  do  the  right 
thing  in  the  right  way — will  be  not  less  important  and  beneficial. 


[From  the  New  York  Tribune,  May  11.  1870.] 
THE  PROPOSED  INDUSTRIAL  EXHIBITION. 

PROVISIONS    OF    THE  CHARTER — THE     EXHIBITION    TO    OPEN   IN   1872 — 
ITS   PROBABLE     CHARACTER  AND   SUCCESS — A     GREAT    UNDERTAKING. 

The  Royal  Commissioners  of  the  World's  Fair  of  1851  have  proposed 
to  hold  in  London  a  series  of  annual  international  exhibitions  of  speci- 
mens of  art  and  industry,  beginning  in  1871.  -  Their  plan  does  not  em- 
brace the  covering  of  the  entire  range  of  useful  or  ornamental  articles  in 
any  one  year,  but  rather  the  admission  to  exhibition  and  competition  each 
year  of  certain  classes  of  goods  which  have  been  passed  upon  by  judges 
"before  hand. 

Another  international  exhibition  is  proposed  in  Vienna,  1873,  the  build- 
ing to  be  erected  upon  the  Prater.  The  cost  of  the  building  is  estimated 
at  3,800,000  florins,  the  other  expenses  at  2,000,000  florins,  and  the  receipts 
at  3,350,000  florins,  the  proposal  being  made  that  the  State  shall  make  up 
the  deficiency.  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  this  proposition  will  be  ac- 
cepted by  the  Government. 

The  ambitious  Washingtonians  also  want  an  international  exhibition, 
and  try  to  have  the  project  adopted  by  the  Government,- and,  of  course, 
the  design  is  to  have  any  deficiency  in  receipts  made  up  by  an  appropri- 
ation bill.  But  aside  from  the  objections  to  any  such  expense,  Washing- 
ton has  no  advantage  as  a  locality,  for  such  an  enterprise,  save  the  single 
fact  that  it  is  the  seat  of  the  National  Government.  It  has  not  people 
enough  to  support  such  an  exhibition,  nor  accommodation  for  one-tenth 
of  the  visitors  which  its  sanguine  shopkeepers  expect.  Only  one  line  of 
railroad  reaches  it  from  the  region  whence  the  bulk  of  visitors  must  come, 
if  at  all.  Aside  from  the  Government  buildings  there  is  nothing  to 
especially  interest  sight-seers,  except  the  Washington  monument  and  the 
equestrian  monstrosity  in  Lafayette  square. 

It  is  evident  that  New  York  is  the  only  place  in  the  United  States 
where  any  such  exhibition  could  properly  take  place.  We  say  this  in  no 
spirit  of  antagonism  to  Washington,  but  simply  as  a  natural  conclusion 
from  the  facts.  They  are  so  evident  that  argument  upon  them  would  be 
superfluous,  and  in  view  of  them  it  is  a  matter  worthy  special  mention, 
that  there  is  now  an  organized  movement  to  establish  in  this  city  an  in- 
dustrial exhibition,  which  shall  exceed  all  its  predecessors.  We  made 
brief  note  at  the  time  of  its  passage  by  the  Legislature  of  a  bill  incorpor- 
ating "  The  New  York  Industrial  Exhibition  Company,"  and  propose  now 
to  regard  it  a  little  more  in  detail. 

The  charter  authorizes  the  Company  above  named  to  purchase  real 
estate  and  erect  thereon  suitable  buildings  to  be  used  for  an  Industrial 
Exhibition.  The  capital  stock  shall  be  $7,000,000,  divided  into  70,000 
shares  of  $100  each.  The  affairs  of  the  Company  shall  be  managed  by 
a  board  or  fifty-two  Directors,  to  be  annually  elected,  except  the    first 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  31 

Board,  who  shall  hold  office  until  the  whole  of  the  capital  shall  have 
been  subscribed  and  paid,  and  the  building  constructed. 

To  provide  funds  for  carrying  out  the  plan,  the  Company  may  loan 
money  and  issue  bonds  as  security  therefor.  The  first  Board  of  Directors 
may  name  a  Board  of  Regents,  not  to  exceed  ten  to  each  State  and  Ter- 
ritory in  the  United  States,  and  also  a  Board  of  Regents  for  such  other 
countries  as  may  propose  to  exhibit  wares  in  the  building.  The  building 
to  be  erected  must  be  fire-proof  and  of  solid  masonry. 

The  authority  conferred  is  especially  broad  and  liberal.  We  are  in- 
formed that  nearly  or  quite  all  the  immense  capital  has  already  been  sub- 
scribed by  bankers  and.  leading  business  men,  whose  names  mean  cash 
as  well  as  influence.  The  meeting  of  the  incorporators  for  the  election  of 
officers  takes  place  in  a  few  days,  and  vigorous  measures  are  contemplated. 
It  is  intended  to  have  the  building  ready  for  occupancy  in  1872.  The  in- 
corporators certainly  have  here  a  great  opportunity.  A  vast  amount  of 
good  or  evil  may  be  done  in  50  years  with  a  capital  of  $7,000,000.  It  is 
proposed  to  make  the  exhibition  a  grand  combination  of  the  best  features 
of  the  exhibitions  of  modern  times.  There  are  to  be  galleries  of  paint- 
ings and  halls  of  statuary  ;  mechanical  and  scientific  departments,  where 
all  the  most  useful  inventions  will  be  upon  exhibition  and  in  operation  ; 
agricultural  and  horticultural  departments,  where  all  available  products 
of  our  own  or  other  countries  will  be  displayed  ;  conservatories  of  rare 
domestic  and  foreign  plants  and  Mowers  ;  an  immense  public  hall  for  con- 
certs, festivals  or  great  public  occasions ;  smaller  halls  for  lectures  upon 
art,  science  and  literature  ;  all  industry  and  invention  to  be  stimulated 
by  prizes,  medals  and  diplomas ;  salesrooms  for  a  great  commercial  and 
art  exchange ;  the  building  to  be  of  a  character  which  will  do  honor  to 
the  city  and  the  country,  and  the  whole  to  be  subject  to  a  liberal  scale  of 
exhibition  and  admission  prices,  so  as  to  make  it,  in  all  respects,  the  peo- 
ple's resort  for  entertainment  and  instruction.  If  such  a  scheme  is  carried 
out  by  men  of  keen  appreciation  of  the  public  wants,  of  just  discrimination 
in  the  appointment  of  Regents,  judges  and  juries,  of  energy  in  pushing 
the  work  to  successful  operation  and  in  keeping  interest  in  it  alive,  by 
careful  changes  and  additions  from  time  to  time,  then  the  enterprise  may 
prove  of  vast  benefit  to  our  city,  and  to  art  and  manufactures  throughout 
the  country. 

In  one  respect  this  exhibition  will  differ  from  any  that  has  preceded  it 
— that  of  permanency.  It  is  proposed  to  make  it  perpetual — open  alike 
in  Summer  and  in  Winter — an  international  and  cosmopolitan  bazar, 
whose  doors  are  ever  open  ;  whose  exhibitors  shall  come  and  go  like  the 
merchants  upon  the  streets,  and  through  whose  gates  the  human  tide 
will  ebb  and  flow  as  continuously  as  through  Broadway. 

Can  a  perpetual  exhibition,  requiring  an  admission  fee,  be  successful  ? 
The  probabilities  are  favorable.  New  York  sustains  any  well-managed 
public  amusement.  With  one  million  of  people  upon  Manhattan  Island, 
another  million  clustered  around  it  in  suburban  cities  and  towns,  and 
forty  millions  who  look  to  New  York  as  their  representative  city,  the 
grand  depot  of  their  goods,  and  the  place  where  almost  every  man,  wo- 
man and  child  is  willing  to  spend  money  in  viewing  its  greatness  and  its 
entertainments,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  such  an  exhibition 
would  be  amply  supported  from  January  to  December.  As  an  attraction 
designed  to  bring  more  people  to  New  York  than  now,  and  to  keep  them 
here  one,  two,  or  seven  days  longer  than  they  would  otherwise  remain, 
the  great  mass  who  here  find  a  livelihood  and  a  profit  by  ministering  to 


32  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

the  wants  of  their  fellow-men  would  be  directly  interested  in  its  success, 
and  the  scheme  would  thus  have  a  hundred  thousand  hearty  advocates 
throughout.  Citizens  and  visitors  would  find  within  its  walls  the  same 
attraction  of  verdure,  of  flowers,  of  music,  and  of  pervading  beauty,  which 
they  now  seek  in  Central  Park,  but  which  is  in  great  measure  denied  to 
them  there  during  three  or  four  months  of  the  year.  They  would  find, 
also,  such  additional  attractions  as  would  render  necessary  repeated  visits 
so  that  the  whole  could  be  fairly  inspected. 

Other  exhibitions,  similar  in  date,  have  been  uniformly  successful. 
France  has  had  no  less  than  thirteen  Official  Expositions,  from  1798,  when 
Marquis  d'Avize  conceived  and  carried  out  an  exhibition  of  objects  of  the 
industry  of  the  national  manufactures  at  St.  Cloud,  down  to  that  which 
covered'  35  acres  of  the  Champ  de  Mars  in  1867,  all  of  which  have  been 
successfully  attended,  to  say  nothing  of  their  influence  upon  trade  and 
manufactures.  The  World's  Fair,  in  London  in  1851,  was  open  141  days 
from  May  1,  when  it  attracted  25,000  spectators.  During  that  time 
6,000,135  visits  were  made,  109,915  persons  having  been  in  the  building 
in  one  day  (October  7).  The  receipts  were  about  $2,530,500,  and  the  ex- 
penses, $1,463,760  :  the  average  daily  receipts  being  $12,740.  At  the 
Suydenham  Palace  there  have  been  55,000  visits  in  a  single  day,  and 
audiences  of  30,000  at  some  of  the  concerts  there  held  have  not  been  un- 
common. 

The  conveniences  of  access  by  rail  and  boat  to  New  York,  and  the 
abundance  of  hotels  for  the  accommodation  of  strangers  (in  which  we  are 
notably  in  advance  of  London  or  Paris)  must  be  considered  as  elements 
in  its  success.  All  commendation  of  this  scheme  is,  of  course,  based  upon 
supposition  that  its  management  will  be  wise  and  honorable.  Any  other 
condition  would  rightfully  condemn  the  project  from  the  start.  Where 
such  an  exhibition  can  best  be  located  in  or  about  New  York  is  a  serious 
question.  It  must  be  easily  accessible  to  be  successful,  or  to  answer  the 
condition  of  tempting  the  mass  of  the  people.  It  must  have  pleasant  sur- 
roundings, or  the  approaches  would  deter  many  from  a  second  if  not  a  first 
visit.  The  question  of  locality  will  not  be  the  least  important  and  dim- 
cult  which  the  Directors  will  meet  in  the  course  of  their  arduous  but  self- 
imposed  duties. 


[From  the  Neio  York  Evening  Mail,  May  11, 1870.] 
NEW  YORK  INDUSTRIAL  EXHIBITION. 

AN    INTERNATIONAL    GALLERY   OF    ART,    SCIENCE   AND   AGRICULTURE — 
THE   SUYDENHAM   PALACE   OP   THE   NEW    WORLD. 

The  project  of  establishing  in  this  city  a  grand  Industrial  Exhibition, 
which  shall  combine  the  best  features  of  those  of  LondoYi,  Paris  and 
Dublin,  with  such  improvements  and  additions  as  the  progress  of  ideas 
make  desirable,  is  attracting  considerable  attention,  Much  has  been  said 
in  art  circles  of  a  proposed  Art  Museum  in  New  York  ;  the  American  In- 
stitute has  given  us,  yearly,  creditable  exhibitions  for  a  limited  period, 
and  we  have  our  Academy  of  Design.  But  these  (even  if  the  first  is  car- 
ried to  execution,  which  is  by  no  means  certain  as  yet)  do  not  (ill  the 
measure  of  what  we  need,  nor  of  wkat  we  may  rightfully  boast  of,  if  the 
provisions  of  the  charter  granted  by  the  late  Legislature  to  the  "  Indus- 
trial Company  "  are  properly  made  use  of. 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  33 

To  say  the  least,  this  enterprise  gives  assurance  of  vitality  in  the 
amount  of  capital  already  subscribed  by  leading  business  men,  and  in  the 
fact  that  the  first  election  of  officers  is  to  take  place  this  week,  after  which 
we  are  promised  a  vigorous  campaign,  looking  to  decisive  victory  for  in- 
dustrial art. 

The  charter  obtained  is  liberal  to  the  incorporators,  and  so  increases  at 
once  their  power  for  great  and  beneficial  results,  and  their  responsibility 
to  give  us  something  far  above  any  mere  pecuniary  speculation.  With 
a  capital  of  seven  million  dollars,  and  fifty  years  in  which  to  develop  their 
programme,  the  gentlemen  who  have  the  project  in  hand  ought  to  estab- 
lish and  worthily  support  an  institution  which  shall  be  one  of  the  noblest 
features  of  New  York.  We  say  they  should  not  only  establish  it,  but 
support  it,  for  it  seems  to  us  that  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  pecu- 
niary support  of  such  a  plan  by  the  public,  provided  the  managers  are 
shrewd  and  diligent  enough  to  make  the  plan  as  attractive  and  valuable 
as  they  will  h  ave  it  in  their  power  to  do.  They  must,  therefore,  so 
wisely  govern  their  enterprise  as  to  make  it  sure  of  success. 

As  we  understand  the  design,  it  is  to  carry  out  fully  the  authority  of 
that  section  of  the  charter  which  says  that  the  company  may  "  purchase 
and  hold  such  real  estate  as  may  be  necessary,  and  to  construct  thereon 
such  buildings  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  maintenance  and  carrying  on 
of  the  business  of  exhibiting  the  products,  goods,  wares  and  merchandise, 
machinery,  mechanical  inventions  and  improvements  of  every  nature, 
name  and  kind,  *  *  *  "::*  and  to  award  and  pay  to  exhibitors  therein 
such  prizes  and  medals  and  honorary  distinctions  as  they  shall  deem  pro- 
per, and  to  lease,  let,  or  own  stalls,  stands,  rooms,  and  places  in  said 
building  or  buildings,  upon  such  terms  and  conditions  as  the  Board  of 
Directors  shall  deem  best  for  the  interests  of  said  company,  and  for  the 
promotion  of  science,  art,  commerce,  and  literature.  And  the  said  company 
is  hereby  further  authorized  to  construct  studios  and  picture  galleries,  and 
to  exhibit  their  pictures  and  statuary,  *  *  and  to  award  such  prizes 
for  the  creation  of  the  same  as  the  Board  of  Directors  may  deem  proper  ; 
and  generally  said  corporation  shall  have  power  to  carry  on  in  its  said 
buildings,  erected  for  the  purposes  hereinafter  mentioned,  all  legal  and 
proper  business." 

Fifty-two  Directors  shall  constitute  the  Managing  Board,  and  a  Board 
of  Regents  may  be  appointed  for  each  State.  The  building  must  be 
fireproof. 

It  will  be  seen  that  under  this  authority  the  Company  may  institute 
an  international  exchange,  with  daily  increasing  attractions ;  may  stim- 
ulate invention  by  holding  open  a  perpetual  reward  for  what  is  espe- 
cially worthy  ;  may  organize  a  corps  of  officials  the  range  of  whose 
op  -rations  covers  the  entire  country  (and  not  this  country  alone,  but  all 
others  whose  producers  or  manufacturers  wish  to  compete)  and  who  will 
thus  be  enabled  to  consider  intelligently  the  entire  industrial  world  ; 
may  be  to  the  entire  farming  community  what  the  most  skilfully  and 
judiciously  managed  agricultural  fair  is  to  the  locality  where  it  is  held; 
may  give  us  what  we  have  not  yet  had  in  New  York,  a  superb  collec- 
tion of  painting  and  statuary,  always  accessible  to  the  public  ;  may  con- 
struct and  fill  conservatories  of  rare  plants  and  flowers,  to  which  year 
after  year  will  add  richness  and  chosen  variety  ;  may,  in  short,  combine 
in  one  grand  whole  all  the  best  forms  of  intellectual  entertainment  and 
refined  amusement. 

What  the  Suydenham  Palace  is  to  London  this  exhibition  should  be 
to  New  York      It  has  been  truly  said  that,  with  the  exception  of  the 


34  INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS. 

Central  Park,  we  have  no  place  which  can  be  commended  as  a  general 
public  resort.  But,  even  at  the  Park,  much  is  wanting  which  may  be 
supplied  in  the  proposed  exhibition,  and,  at  its  best,  the  Park  is  not 
available  as  a  place  of  recreation  during  the  Winter  months.  There 
need,  however,  be  no  rivalry  between  the  two  enterprises.  New  York 
lias  need  of  them  both,  and  both  will  do  their  good  work  for  the  city 
in  attracting  visitors,  and  in  teaching  them  lessons  of  beauty  and  utility. 

The  Directors  of  the  Industrial  Company  need  to  have  rare  tact,  energy 
and  intelligence,  to  see  what  is  wanted,  and  to  keep  the  enterprise  free 
from  any  cause  of  reproach,  while  they  push  the  project  to  a  speedy 
consummation.  Great  latitude  is  allowed  them  by  the  charter  in  arrang- 
ing the  details  of  the  exhibition.  Their  building  should  be  well  lo- 
cated, with  attractive  surroundings,  and  easily  reached  from  the  business 
and  dwelling  parts  of  the  city.  The  edifice  should  be  ample,  not  only 
for  present  needs,  but  to  accommodate  the  prospective  throng  of  exhib- 
itors and  visitors  during  many  coming  years,  and  it  should  be  of  im- 
posing and  tasteful  architectural  proportions.  Care  will  need  to  be  taken 
in  deciding  upon  the  terms  of  admission  and  of  competition,  and  cordial 
co-operation  with  leading  minds  in  the  various  walks  of  literature,  art, 
science  and  trade,  can  only  be  secured  by  the  exercise  of  unassailable  in- 
tegrity throughout  the  whole  course  of  preliminary  negotiation  and  sub- 
sequent operations. 

There  is  every  reason  for  full  faith  that  an  international  industrial  ex- 
hibition such  as  is  now  proposed  in  New  York,  will  be  abundantly  patron- 
ized so  long  as  it  shows  itself  worthy  of  support.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
nothing  will  occur  to  prevent  a  propitious  opening  in  1872,  and  a  continual 
success  for  half  a  century  thereafter, 


[From  the  Neiv  York  Sun,  Ajyril  21, 1870.] 

A  Perpetual,  World's  Fair. — The  Assembly  yesterday  passed  the 
bill  incorporating  the  New  York  Industrial  Exhibition  Company,  which 
had  previously  passed  the  Senate.  From  this  beginning  we  are  likely  to  see 
important  and  beneficial  results.  We  understand  that  the  leading  parties 
in  the  enterprise  are  men  of  capital,  experience  and  energy,  who  mean  to 
establish  a  perpetual  World's  Fair,  which  shall  be  an  honor  to  the  Empire 
City,  and  a  powerful  promoter  of  arts  and  manufactures.  There  is  cer- 
tainly room  for  such  a  project  here.  The  Suydenham  Palace  is  a  hint  of 
what  may  be  kept  in  constant  and  successful  operation  in  New  York.  When 
the  Exhibition  of  1851  opened  in  London,  25,000  persons  participated  in  the 
opening,  and  more  than  six  million  individual  visits  were  made  during  the 
141  days  of  its  continuance.  If  the  New  York  Industrial  Company  erect 
spacious,  substantial  and  elegant  buildings,  in  an  accessible  and  desirable 
locution,  use  liberality  and  discretion  in  arranging  the  schedule  of  prizes 
and  medals,  and  put  the  prices  of  admission  and  competition  within  the 
reach  of  all,  they  may  be  sure  of  a  profitable  return  for  themselves,  while 
giving  to  the  city  one  of  its  strongest  attractions. 


[From  the  New  York  Standard,  May  4,  1870.] 

The  Charter  granted  by  the  late  Legislature,  incorporating  the  New 
York  Industrial  Exhibition  Company,  is  broad  enough  to  give  us  hope 


INDUSTRIAL    EXHIBITIONS.  35 

that  the  enterprise  will  be  an  honorable  institution,  worthy  the  Empire 
City.  In  the  first  place,  the  capital  stock  is  to  be  no  less  than  seven  million 
dollars  ($7,000,000).  This  is  large  enough  to  cover  a  grand  and  liberal  in- 
dustrial exhibition,  which  will  be  a  constant  stimulus  to  American  science 
and  art,  and  a  notable  attraction  to-  our  city.  The  charter  gives 
time  enough  for  the  Board  of  fifty-two  Directors  and  the  State  Regents  to 
develop  something  which  shall  be  as  irremovable  as  the  choicest  and 
amplest  art-galleries  of  foreign  lands.  '  The  building  to  be  erected  must 
be  fireproof  and  of  solid  masonry.'  This  is  a  wise  provision.  For  any  such 
institution  as  aspires  to  rank  with  the  Crystal  Palace  of  1851,  the  Suyden- 
ham  Palace,  or  the  Kensington  Museum,  no  makeshift  of  an  edifice  will  sat- 
isfy either  exhibitors  or  visitors.  What  New  York  needs  is  a  place  of  resort 
open  alike  Summer  and  Winter,  where  will  always  be  found  a  collection  of 
paintings  and  statuary  far  in  advance  of  anything  of  the  kind  which  has 
ever  been  opened  to  the  public ;  a  complete  museum  of  all  the  valuable  me- 
chanical and  scientific  inventions,  a  conservatory  of  native  and  foreign 
fruits,  flowers  and  cereals,  and  a  perpetual  bazar  of  international  industry, 
and  all  open  alike  to  competition  and  inspection,  upon  such  a  scale  of 
prices  as  will  welcome  all  classes  of  contributors  and  spectators,  while 
yielding  a  profitable  return  to  the  proprietors.  All  this  may  be  accom- 
plished under  the  charter,  if  the  incorporators  elect  managers  who  have  a 
j  ust  idea  of  the  opportunity  now  placed  in  their  hands. 


[From  the  New  York  World,  April  23,  1870.] 

If  the  plans  are  judiciously  executed,  there  seems  to  be  no 
reason  why  the  enterprise  may  not  be  a  continued  success — valuable  alike 
to  the  city  and  its  proprietors.  The  people  of  no  city  respond  more  readily 
to  any  just  appeal  to  their  support,  and  the  floating  population  of  New 
York  alone,  would  richly  sustain  such  a  place  of  resort  as  it  is  promised 
this  shall  be. 


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